Amalgam-filling contourer



April 6 1926. 1,579,968

R. H. TAYLOR AMALGAM FILLING CONTOURER Filed June 20, 1923 3 5 '5 5 P r r L, 5& 2 55 2- 5 & v

J J J J 1 avweutoz Ed ar-dam if} or R L at Patented Apr. 6, 1926'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARDSON H. TAYLOR, OF MEEKER, COLORADO.

AMALGAM-FIL'LING CONTOUR/ER.

Application filed. June 20,

use in molding the shape of the occlusal surface of the filling, in situ, while said filling is in the plastic state.

Among other subsidiary uses of the dental instruments or series of instruments embodying the principle of the invention, is the molding of the occlusal surface of waX or 7 other plastic patterns for inlays.

As is well known, the occlusal surfaces of the molars and bicuspids are diversified by sulei or valleys (and hereinafter described as valleys) defined between elevations or cusps. Since the latterare broader at the base than at the apices, the valleys are deep and precipitous where the cusps most closely approach, and broaden out with a more gradual slope as they recede toward the margin of the ocelusal surface.

In the bicuspid s, these valleys widen to-'v ward the mesial and distal faces of the tooth, while in .the molars, which are in, general, provided with more than two cusps, the occlusal surfaces are more irregular, e1;- hibiting however, the same structural characteristics with regard to the valleys, namely that they are steep and narrow'where the cusps are. in closest adjacency and wider, and: of gentler slopecon opposite sides of the steep and narrow portion. The molars in the upper set of teeth are normally provided with four cusps, two of which are generally more prominent than the others, forming between them avalley extending mesio-distally of the occlusal surface, and a valley meeting the firstnamed valley and extending to the buccal face of the tooth. The molars of the lower set may be re garded as generally formed with live cusps, defining intersecting valleys extending mesio-distally and bucco-lingually.

The principal object of the invention is to construct adental tool having the working face thereof so shaped as ,to form the. impression of valleys in the amalgam or other plastic filling, which are highly simu- 1923. Serial No. 646,635.

lative of the valleys in the natural occlusal surfaces, the form of said working face being such as to include the shape characteristics common to all valleys, so that the invention may be carried out in a. series of instruments, as well as one, each having a special adaptation for a particular use, but all embracing said common characteristics.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the improved amalgam filling contourer illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in me following speclfication, and particularly claimed, and in such variations and modificationsfthereof as will be obvious to 7,1105% skilled in the art to which my invention relates.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, and wherein the preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated: r

Figures 1 to 6 inclusive represent side elevational views of a seriesof dental in strunients, for contouring plastic fillings, each embodying the common principle of the invention: Those parts of each figure designated by the reference characters a and I) represent plan views of the adjacent tool faces.

Figure 7 an upper set of teeth, rather conventionally the occlusal surface of the bicuspids and molars.

Figure 8 is a similar view of the lower set of teeth viewed from above.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numeral 1 represents a handle which may be of any convenientfshape common to instruments of this class, preferably is a plan view from beneath, of

and. emphasizing,

formed at'its opposite ends with tapering shanks 3 and 4 which are bent contra-angle and are formed at their extremities with the tool faces which embody the essence of the invention. The tool face represented at the up per end of the instrument shown in Figure 1' comprises a pair of relatively long inclined surfaces 5 and 6 meeting substantially in the middle of the tool face and in a line which extends substantially parallel with the axis of the instrument, and a third rather abruptlyinclined surface 7 which intersects the other surfaces adjacent the upper ends thereof forming a projecting polyhedral molding. element. This is intended to be impressed upon the distal area of the occlusal surface of thebicuspids designated at a in Figures 7 and 8. The lower tool face I) is formed with intersecting surfaces similar to those of the tool face a, but the line of intersection of the faces 5 and 6 is not in this case substantially parallel to the axis of the handle but inclined divergently therefrom. This end of the tool is adapted to be impressed upon the plastic filling of the mesial portion of the valley designated by the reference character Z) in Figures 7 and 8, and the relative inclination of the tool face to the longitudinal axis of the instrument is made necessary by reason of the inclined position in which the handle of the instrument is held when in operative position. The intersecting surfaces may be flat or curved, as desired without departing from the spirit of the invcntion. The instrument shown in Figure 2 has polyhedral tool faces which are substantially similar to those shown in Figure 1 but reversely arranged for. the purpose that while the face a of Fig. 1 is used to mold the distal ends of the valleys of the upper right and lower left bieuspids, the tool face I) of Figure 2 is for shaping the disto-occlusal surface of the upper left and lower right bicuspids, and the opposite ends of said instrument are intended, respectively for operating upon fillings in corresponding teeth on opposite sides of the median line of the face. 7

Figures 3 and 4 disclose instruments for forming the valleys between the cusps of the molars. In Figure 3 the tool faces take the form of three sided polyhedrons and are adapted for forming the valleys in the molars of the upper set of teeth. The tool face a at the upper end of Figure 3 molds the depressed area indicated at 0 in Figure 7, and the lower face Z in Figure 7. The instrument shown in Figure 4 is formed with four sided polyhedral tool faces at its opposite ends which are adapted to operate upon the plastic fillings of the lower, fivecusped molars, the face a forming the depressed area e in Figure 8, and the face Z), molding the port-ion f of the valleys in the lower molars on the left hand side as shown at f in Figure 8.

Figure 5 examplifies a form of the invention in an instrument which is particularly adapted for molding the entire occlusal surface of the bicuspids. The tool faces in this embodiment of the invention comprise a pair of lateral surfaces 8 and 9 which meet in a. common edge 10 of substantial length, said surfaces being intersected by other inclined faces 11 and 12, the resilient shape being that of a polyhedron of four sides, the most prominent portion of which is an edge instead of r a. point as is true of the polyhedral surfaces ulation can be made to form depressions of similar size and shape to those capable of being made by the other tools for which it may be substituted. As it is not so highly differentiated in shape to meet particular uses, as are the tools shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 5, its efficient use requires a more exacting technique than that of the instruments aforementioned.

In the operation of my amalgam filling contourer the proper tool is selected and' pressed into the amalgam filling, forming the valley in the occlusal surface thereof and thereby defining the location and shape of the cusps. By using successive tools the entire valley may be formed in such manner as to simulate nature with a close degree of fidelity. In the manipulation of the tools, a slight sliding or rocking motion forms part of the technique, by which action not only is the amalgam condensed and the valley made smooth and without obstructive projections, but the tool faces function as burnishers, polishing the surface of the amalgam, even in. the angles of the valleys where the ordinary burnishing'tools can not reach.

lVhile I have herein illustrated several modified forms of the invention it is to be understood that I am not limited to the number or arrangement of tool faces shown but that the invention is broad enough to include any form of cont-ourer which embraces a plurality of intersecting surfaces forming a polyhedral tool or stylus adapted to be impressed into plastic filling material to mold the occlusal depressions thereof.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An instrument for impressing the occlusal contour into a plastic filling, having a working face comprising a solid portion bounded by a plurality of forwardly projecting surfaces intersecting in a polyhedral angle.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

RICHARDSON I-L TAYLOR-i. 

